Sean T. O'Kelly

Sean Thomas O'Kelly (25 August 1882-23 November 1966) was President of Ireland from 25 June 1945 to 24 June 1959, succeeding Douglas Hyde and preceding Eamon de Valera. O'Kelly was a member of the Fianna Fail political party.

Biography
Sean Thomas O'Kelly was born in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland on 25 August 1882, and he joined Sinn Fein upon its formation in 1905. O'Kelly became a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and served as Patrick Pearse's staff captain during the 1916 Easter Rising. In 1918, he was elected to Parliament for Dublin College Green as a Sinn Fein MP, and he attempted to ensure that Ireland was recognized as an independent nation at the Treaty of Versailles in 1919; instead, he made an alliance with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who sent arms to the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. O'Kelly was a close associate of the President of the Dail Eireann, Eamon de Valera, and he was imprisoned during the Irish Civil War for his rejection of the peace treaty signed with the United Kingdom. In 1926, he was one of the co-founders of the Fianna Fail party, and he served as Tanaiste (Deputy Taoiseach) from 1937 to 1945, Minister of Finance from 1939 to 1945, and President from 1945 to 1959. O'Kelly was known for his strong Catholic views and his opposition to communism, as well as for his alcoholism, although his drinking habit never caused a single scandal. He was seen as a genuine and honest president upon leaving office in 1959, and he died in 1966 at the age of 84.